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Edward T. Hall

When I began to read Edward T. Hall’s The Hidden Dimension, I began to understand how a person could misinterpret an action across cultures. It is seen in many examples in the book however, I understood it the most when Hall was describing a conversation between two men. These men had a conversation up and down the sidewalk because of the culturally accepted proxemics between each of the men in the conversation. One man was comfortable with a social consultive space between four and ten feet from the other in a conversation while the other was caught in a balancing act with a man whose idea of personal body space was a lot smaller. This had a lot to do with their culture and background. Hidden Dimensions examines the cultural contexts of space, how people define their personal and community spaces as part of their cultural norms.
Hall also used the study of space and cultural concepts between them, including Germans, English and the French he also goes on to discuss Japan and the Arab world.
Most people are unable to verbalize the cultural norms that dictate their proxemic behavior. For instance, when Hall discussed the Arab world I understood that when an Arab is having a conversation with an American it can be a little awkward and even misread because the Arab is standing only about a foot away with constant eye contact and an overpowering fragrance and may continue to hold your arm or shoulder for body contact, the American may avert the eyes, turn the body away and cross the arms as a body barricade. This will be misread between them both because they unaware of the cultural norms in each individuals society.
In the Whorf hypothesis language shapes our perception of how we see things and use them but when you look at what Hall was saying you realize that space can affect us as much as words. Where people live has a great deal of impact on their perception of comfort and discomforts. It is evident in people in the same parts of the world that could not have been any more different for example the Southern Europeans live in a contact culture whereas Northern Europeans live in a non-contact culture. Meaning that it is more accepted in Southern Europe for closeness in people that do not know each other personally whereas in Northern Europe people are more comfortable with the lack of physical closeness. I have become more aware of my actions and I try to use neutral based efforts to make myself and others as comfortable as possible. Hall has written on numerous occasions, “ When in Rome, stand as the Romans stand.”

Posted: May 13, 2005 



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